Tuesday, November 26, 2024

11/26 Links Pt1: Israeli Security Cabinet approves truce with Lebanon; Cutting the Hezbollah-Gaza axis; The U.N’s Anti-Israel ‘Genocide’ Purge

From Ian:

Seth Frantzman: Cutting the Hezbollah-Gaza axis
However, Hezbollah’s ties to Hamas, as a second front, plus its ability to dictate terms regarding strikes on Iran, are new aspects of Hezbollah’s growing strength. In essence, Israel was trying to get back to square one with Hezbollah by attacking it more intensely in September rather than waging a war of attrition – which was in Hezbollah’s interests.

So now, the story of Hezbollah and Hamas looks increasingly like the parable about a poor man, a rabbi, and a goat. This story, which has different variations, includes a poor man who lives with his kids and wife in a house so small that he is miserable and goes to the local rabbi for advice.

The rabbi suggests he bring a goat into the house, and the man follows suit, crowding his house even more. So, he goes back to the rabbi to complain. The rabbi suggests removing the goat, which makes the house feel larger again. Nothing has changed for the man, but removing the goat changed his perspective on his space.

Israel has removed the “goat” – direct Hezbollah threats along the border – and perhaps keeping Hezbollah from tying the northern front to Gaza. However, this merely puts Israel back on October 6, 2023. It doesn’t turn the clock back to 2006 or other times when Hezbollah had 10% of the rockets it had on October 6.

The fact is that Hezbollah became far too strong, making itself into a monster that could dictate strategy to Israel. Weakening it is good, but victory cannot be bringing things back to square one.

Victory means going further; removing the Hezbollah goat is only one part of the process.
The Criminal Court of Injustice
Two weeks after the hunt for Israelis in the streets of Amsterdam, the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague decided to issue arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant - a decision unprecedented in the history of the Free World.

Everything is permitted in order to judge the Jewish state and its people. They dare to issue arrest warrants against the leaders of a democratic country, against a state where justice is implacable, and against a representative of a people who offered humanity the Ten Commandments.

How can we put the leaders of a country that has been the victim of genocide and terrorist attacks on an equal footing with notorious criminals and barbarians who have sworn to continue to murder, rape, and take citizens hostage until Israel is completely wiped off the map? How can we trust international law and its institutions?

Worse still, according to the ICC decision, every Israeli minister, officer, or soldier is now at risk of being detained and taken hostage by numerous courts around the world.

Unfortunately, the decision of The Hague judges encourages Islamist leaders to continue terrorist acts. It gives the green light to all pro-Palestinians and critics to boycott the Jewish state and to demonstrate their hatred towards all Israelis. International reactions prove that antisemitism is omnipresent, injustice triumphs, and deception gains points.

All political parties in Israel have united against the ICC decision. The Israeli people as a whole continue to defend their state against all universal injustices.
WSJ Editorial: The U.N’s Anti-Israel ‘Genocide’ Purge
The UN's assault on Israel is hitting a new low. On Wednesday, the UN will refuse to renew the contract of Alice Wairimu Nderitu, the Kenyan who is the Special Advisor on the Prevention of Genocide.

She is being dismissed because she has stood firm in her belief that Israel's war with Hamas isn't genocide.

In 2022 her office issued a guidance paper on "when to refer to a situation as 'genocide'" due to "its frequent misuse."

The paper explains that the term describes massacres of entire ethnic groups with the intention of eliminating them.

That definition includes the Holocaust, the Hutus' genocide of the Tutsis in Rwanda, and the Serbian slaughter of Bosnian Muslims.

Establishing a pattern of violence as a genocide requires demonstrating intent. Israel's campaign of self-defense doesn't qualify.

In its war against Hamas, Israel's strategy is intended to dismantle a terrorist regime, not eliminate an ethnic group.

Israel has gone to great lengths to minimize Palestinian civilian casualties, even as Hamas uses civilians as shields so their deaths can be used as propaganda.

Ms. Nderitu's refusal to endorse a lie in service of a political agenda has been a profile in courage.


Israeli Security Cabinet approves truce with Lebanon
The Israeli Security Cabinet voted on Tuesday evening to approve a ceasefire with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon.

The Prime Minister’s Office announced that the Security Cabinet, which is responsible for all defense-related decisions and composed of senior ministers, voted in favor of the deal with Lebanon by a majority of 10-1.

“Israel appreciates the U.S. contribution to the process and maintains its right to act against any threat to its security,” the PMO statement added.

The sole member of the Security Cabinet to vote against the agreement was National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, local media reported.

Earlier on Tuesday, CNN cited an Israeli source familiar with the matter as saying that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was seeking to bring the deal before the Security Cabinet only, rather than the full Cabinet.

Hebrew media quoted officials as saying that the potential move would be legally sound, as a temporary ceasefire with Hezbollah is considered a security question rather than a political one.

According to the reported terms of the agreement, Israel Defense Forces troops are expected to gradually withdraw from Southern Lebanon over a 60-day “transition period,” while the country’s official Lebanese Armed Forces is deployed to the border region.

Jerusalem has pledged to halt “any offensive military action against targets in Lebanon, including on the ground, in the air and at sea.”

Hezbollah has promised to relocate its “military infrastructure” north of the Litani River, located some 18 miles north of the border with Israel.

The deal includes an oversight committee, which the United States will lead, to monitor implementation and address potential violations.

U.S. President Joe Biden confirmed in a televised statement that followed the Israeli Cabinet decision that, “effective at 4 a.m. tomorrow local time, the fighting across the Lebanese-Israeli border will end.”


Reasons behind Israel's Agreement to a Ceasefire with Hizbullah
A senior Israeli official outlined the rationale behind advancing the ceasefire agreement. "First, we aim to prevent, as much as possible, a UN Security Council resolution addressing both Hizbullah and Hamas. We're in a transitional period for the U.S. administration and we understand the complexity and sensitivity involved, so we want to avoid that. Once a resolution is passed, it becomes irreversible. Therefore, we're doing everything to prevent it."

Secondly, "reserve soldiers have been engaged in over a year of fighting, moving from Lebanon to Gaza and back. We want to allow them to regroup and regain strength."

The third reason was severing the connection between Gaza and Lebanon. "We're disrupting that, disconnecting the fronts, leaving Hamas isolated in the war....We hope that the strategic and diplomatic measures, combined with ongoing military pressure, will lead to a deal for releasing hostages."

The official added, "We remain committed to acting against Hizbullah and any threat. What's critical is our enforcement capability and we have it....What's most important is securing a side letter from the U.S. granting us the right to act when necessary - whether against terror infrastructure, missile shipments or other threats. If we identify such activities, we have the right to unleash firepower and retaliate against Hizbullah and Lebanon, including via operations beyond the Litani River. Attempts to deliver weapons from Syria to Lebanon will also warrant action."
Hizbullah's Terror Army Will Rebuild - Israel's Test Lies in First Breach
As a Lebanon ceasefire nears, the problem with UN Resolution 1701, adopted by the Security Council at the end of the 2006 Lebanon War, was that none of the parties responsible for enforcing it on the ground actually did so. Hizbullah outmaneuvered everyone.

Israel's natural right to self-defense does not require codification in any agreement. Israel's leadership needs the resolve to stop tolerating Hizbullah violations of Res. 1701 and to respond firmly.

Under the emerging agreement, if Hizbullah "assists" Shiite villagers in rebuilding their destroyed homes by installing weapons depots, observation posts and firing positions beneath and within the structures, Israel would need to file a complaint with an international committee, led by a U.S. general and his peers from Britain, France, and an Arab state.

The committee would demand evidence, forcing Israel to disclose its intelligence-gathering methods.

Lacking its own enforcement mechanism, the committee would then turn to the Lebanese Armed Forces - many of whose soldiers and commanders are Shiites - and UNIFIL, asking them to compel Hizbullah to dismantle the violations identified by Israel.

Only proactive Israeli military operations, with or without committee approval, can transform this deal into an effective arrangement.
Biden admin ‘absolutely committed’ to working with Trump team on Lebanon ceasefire
Antony Blinken, the U.S. secretary of state, was asked during a press briefing in Fiuggi, Italy, where he was attending a G7 foreign ministers meeting, about the reportedly imminent 60-day ceasefire agreement in Lebanon.

“In 60 days, you won’t be in office anymore,” the reporter said. “Do you plan to work with the incoming Trump administration to ensure that this truce can really turn into a lasting peace?”

“We’re absolutely committed to working with the incoming administration on this issue and everything that we’re dealing with,” Blinken said. “I had a good conversation with my successor-to-be, Sen. Rubio, the other day,” he added, of Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).

“I look forward to meeting with him and to going over in detail exactly where we are and where we hope we can go, or if we haven’t been able to complete the work, the next administration can go,” Blinken said. “Having that continuity and being able to hand off to the next administration the strongest possible hand to play in bringing peace and bringing security is exactly what I’m focused on.”

Blinken was in Italy for a meeting of the G7—Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as the European Union.

Earlier in the day, the G7 foreign ministers released a lengthy statement, which addressed several regions, including the Middle East. “As the international community is facing a growing number of challenges, including climate change and biodiversity loss, disaster risks, the eradication of hunger and poverty, emerging and disruptive technologies, we renew our determination to foster collective action in the pursuit of common solutions,” they stated.

The ministers reaffirmed their “unequivocal condemnation” of Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attacks and continued “to call for the immediate release of all hostages, and for the remains held by Hamas in Gaza to be returned to their loved ones.” They also referred to a “destructive cycle” in the region and said there must be a “pathway to a two-state solution.”

“We are alarmed by the increasing toll of hostilities along the Blue Line and beyond,” they stated. “We are gravely concerned about the very high number of civilian casualties, the destruction of critical civilian infrastructure, including hospitals and health care centers. The growing number of internally displaced persons in Lebanon is alarming.”

They also stated “deep concern” about “recent attacks and strikes on UNIFIL, which have injured several peacekeepers and damaged facilities” and said that “the situation in Gaza has led to unprecedented levels of food insecurity, affecting much of the population, particularly in the north.” They said that UNRWA, the U.N. agency whose employees Israel has accused of having direct ties to Palestinian terror groups, plays a “vital role.”


Hezbollah: The Global Footprint of Lebanon’s Party of God
Matt Levitt is the Director of Reinhard Counter terrorism program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Fathom Deputy Editor Calev Ben-Dor discussed the second edition of his book Hezbollah: The Global Footprint of Lebanon’s Party of God. They discuss Hezbollah’s role as a regional actor throughout the Middle East, acting in tandem with and at the direction of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Nasrallah’s strategy, and how effective Israel has been in degrading the group’s military threat in the current war.




How Hezbollah Scared Journalists Out Of Embedding With The IDF In Lebanon
In October, journalists from leading mainstream media outlets embedded with the Israeli Defense Forces on tours in Lebanon. But when Hezbollah threatened legal action against the journalists, they all abandoned ship — and a month later, none have returned.

The IDF organized the tours on September 30, October 11, and October 13 to expose Hezbollah’s vast terror infrastructure. Reporters were given a firsthand look at tunnels and weapons caches hidden in villages, and other Hezbollah resources Israel faces as it attempts to dismantle the terrorist group.

Among the outlets represented during the 90 to 120-minute visits were the BBC, CNN, Fox News, the Associated Press, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and Reuters.

On October 12, BBC reporter Lucy Williamson published a report titled, “Inside Israel’s combat zone in southern Lebanon” about what she witnessed. In response, on October 14, Hezbollah condemned the BBC, accusing it of violating Lebanon’s sovereignty and calling for legal action against the outlet and its staff in Lebanon.

“Not only did the BBC, across all its platforms and languages, display blatant bias towards the killers and criminals, justifying the Zionist barbarism against the Palestinian and Lebanese people, but it also shamelessly sent a team of journalists who entered one of the southern villages accompanied by the occupying army, violating Lebanese territory, sovereignty, and laws, as shown in the reports published by the organization,” Hezbollah wrote.

“Hezbollah’s Media Relations Office denounces this unjustifiable and unacceptable move as it calls on the Ministry of Information, the National Media Council, and relevant judicial and security authorities to take legal action against the BBC and its teams operating in Lebanon,” the statement added.

A subsequent statement reportedly expanded the condemnation to all outlets that participated.

An Israeli government official granted anonymity told The Daily Wire that several reporters said they could no longer participate in the tours for fear of the safety of their colleagues working in Lebanon. Not a single mainstream outlet has accepted an invitation to embed since Hezbollah issued its letter, but many are requesting access to travel to Gaza with the IDF, according to the source.


Commentary Podcast: The 'Ceasefire' Fetish
According to Israel, it is agreeing to a ceasefire with Hezbollah in large measure to stave off an American assault in the UN on Israel's efforts in Lebanon. We discuss what this reminds us of, why it's outrageous if indeed this is the case, and whether Israel can find a way to benefit from the pause. Also, hijinks with tariffs and fights on the patio at Mar-A-Lago!




Hamas welcomes Lebanon truce despite broken Hezbollah pledge
Hamas has expressed willingness to support a ceasefire in Lebanon, even though its ally Hezbollah has reneged on its pledge to continue fighting Israel as long as hostilities persist in Gaza.

“Any announcement of a ceasefire is welcome. Hezbollah has stood by our people and made significant sacrifices,” Osama Hamdan, a top Hamas political official in Lebanon, told the Hezbollah-affiliated, Beirut-based Al Mayadeen TV news channel.

Channel 12 quoted a Hamas source as saying “We will not stop the fire even when Hezbollah does so.” While Hamas rocket fire has significantly decreased since the early days of the war as the IDF has severely degraded the terror group’s capabilities, it has not been eliminated and the terror group still commits small, sporadic launches.

Hezbollah has launched some 16,000 rockets, missiles and drones at Israel since joining the war in support of Hamas on Oct. 8, 2023, a day after the Gaza-based terror organization’s massacre in southern Israel.

More than 60,000 residents of northern Israel remain internally displaced due to the ongoing attacks from the Land of the Cedars. The cross-border attacks have killed 76 people in Israel, including 31 IDF soldiers and six foreign nationals, and have wounded 729 more, 66 of them seriously.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to convene his Cabinet on Tuesday amid reports that Israel is set to approve a truce in the war against Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon.

Hezbollah’s decoupling of its conflict with Israel from that of Hamas in Gaza marks a major reversal for the Iranian terror proxy. As early as last month, Hezbollah Deputy Secretary-General Naim Qassem staunchly rejected calls to separate a ceasefire in Lebanon from the situation in Gaza.

“We insisted on the demand for a ceasefire in Gaza—and we did not agree to their request to separate Lebanon from Gaza,” Qassem declared.


ICC Arrest Warrants: Iran's Hidden Hand in Targeting Israel
Iran orchestrated the decision of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue arrest warrants against the prime minister and former defense minister of Israel.

Even if it will be hard to find a smoking gun or prove a direct legal connection to the regime - known for its expertise in concealment and proxy operations - the narratives Iran has constructed over the years reveal its intentions.

For years, Khamenei has referred to Israel as "the occupying regime" and an "apartheid state," used the term "racism" in connection to the killing of innocents, and now labels the war in Gaza as "genocide," declaring that Israel must be put on trial. Already on Oct. 7, 2023, Iranian officials called for a comprehensive media effort to highlight alleged Israeli crimes.

The Iranian strategy to make use of the international legal system is not investigated by international institutions and international media outlets do not cover it. Not only do Iran and its leaders go uninvestigated by the ICC, but in Nov. 2023, Iran was elected to chair the Social Forum of the UN Human Rights Council.

In 2017, the previous ICC prosecutor announced her intention to launch an investigation of alleged U.S. war crimes in Afghanistan. The U.S. harshly criticized her, revoked her visa to the U.S., and threatened to prosecute her, her staff, and ICC judges in American courts and seize their assets. The administration further warned that if the ICC dared to detain any American citizen, the U.S. would use force to secure their release.

This understanding of the ICC's bias and politicization was not adopted by the Biden administration, which did not act to prevent current prosecutor Karim Khan from issuing the warrants.
Law professor calls for Australia to resign membership of International Criminal Court arguing it is ‘undermining the rule of law’
A law professor has called on the Australian government to resign its membership of the International Criminal Court arguing the institution is “undermining the rule of law”.

The Netherlands-based court sparked controversy on Friday when it issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant, alleging the pair were involved in crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Gaza during the war sparked by Hamas’ brutal October 7 terrorist attacks.

Wollongong University law professor Greg Rose argued there were numerous problems with the court’s decision and urged the Australia government to withdraw from the organisation.

“It's my firm belief that the court is undermining the rule of law, the integrity of the United Nations, and the court's credibility. In fact, it’s shot, and the best thing that Australia could do would be to pull out,” Professor Rose told Sky News Australia host Chris Kenny.

The Wollongong University Professor said the fact the ICC had brought a case against Israel despite it not being a signatory to the Rome Statute - and therefore not bound by the court - showed it had exceeded its own jurisdiction.

Professor Rose also claimed the ICC had failed to observe principles of due process and procedural fairness written into its statute.

Among the examples cited was the fact the court is “meant to defer to the domestic processes of the country which is alleged to have committed the crimes”, yet it had ignored the findings of a delegation of military experts that found Israel’s own processes were perfectly adequate.

“And then we also have breaches of procedural fairness with the inversion of the burden of proof,” Professor Rose said.

“So the way that the court has just formulated its issue of warrants, it requires Israel to prove innocence. It requires Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant to demonstrate that they had no criminal intention… rather than the court finding on the evidence, that they had a criminal intention.”

“In fact, the court's substantive judgement is two pages. And it's really a sad joke.”
The ICC is a US adversary as well
The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged “war crimes” in Gaza. Israeli officials denounced the ICC’s move as inherently political and antisemitic. The court’s decision is both of those things, but it also poses a threat to U.S. national security.

No other nation has been singled out for the ICC’s opprobrium and lawfare as much as the Jewish state. The crimes and human rights abuses of autocracies such as China, Iran, and North Korea, among others, have largely been ignored. But Israel is targeted because the ICC intends to delegitimize the country.

When the court announced in May that it was seeking arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, international legal expert Eugene Kontorovich rightly warned that the ICC was seeking “to create moral equivalence between Hamas and Israel.”

But there is no equivalence between those who seek genocide and those trying to thwart it. On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas and other Iranian proxies invaded Israel, perpetrating the largest slaughter of Jewish civilians since the Holocaust. Israel, a democracy surrounded by Iranian-backed terrorist groups that seek its destruction, responded militarily. No serious nation would do otherwise.

Hamas and other Iranian proxies use a strategy of “human sacrifice.” They use hospitals, schools, and civilian communities to hide operatives and munitions and plot and launch attacks. Instead of protecting Gazans from harm, Hamas and its allies intentionally seek their deaths, hoping to use them as a political and diplomatic cudgel against the Jewish state. Regrettably, they’ve been stunningly successful, with many news outlets, nonprofit organizations, and others, including the ICC, overlooking Hamas’s intentions while uncritically quoting unverifiable casualty statistics supplied by the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry.

Israel has taken steps to reduce and limit casualties, including delaying offensives, overseeing and encouraging civilian evacuations, using certain munitions, and frequently issuing advance warnings before strikes. According to John Spencer, the chairman of urban war studies at the U.S. Military Academy, “Israel has taken more measures to avoid needless civilian harm than virtually any other nation that’s fought an urban war.”
Trump, Congress looking to put suffocating sanctions on 'kangaroo' ICC over Netanyahu arrest warrant
The scandal-plagued International Criminal Court’s decision to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Jewish state’s former defense minister has brought the court into the crosshairs of a potent American sanctions regime.

The ICC last week slapped arrest warrants on Netanyahu and ex-Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for their war plans involved in rooting out Hamas terrorism in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas slaughtered nearly 1,200 people on Oct. 7, 2023, in southern Israel, including over 40 Americans.

Israeli news outlet Kan said President-elect Trump’s administration plans to initiate sanctions against the ICC judges who issued the warrants, including the court’s chief prosecutor, Karim Khan.

The British chief prosecutor, Khan, is currently the subject of a probe based on allegations that he committed sexual misconduct, something that he has vigorously denied, noting that there was "no truth to suggestions" of such behavior, according to reports.

Avi Bell, a professor of law at the University of San Diego and Bar Ilan University in Israel and founding dean of the Israel Law and Liberty Forum's annual program on law and democracy, told Fox News Digital, "Several years ago, the ICC threatened to charge American soldiers for alleged crimes in Afghanistan. The fact that the ICC lacked jurisdiction did not cause the ICC to pause even for a second. It was only President Trump’s sanctions against the ICC (during his first term) that forced the ICC to obey the law and drop its threat to prosecute Americans. Sanctions against the ICC will work; persuasion will not."

Trump’s nominee for national security adviser, Mike Waltz, announced on X, "You can expect a strong response to the antisemitic bias of the ICC and U.N. come January."

One of Trump’s key Senate partners, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., upped the ante in a recent Fox News interview, saying, "To any ally, Canada, Britain, Germany, France, if you try to help the ICC, we’re going to sanction you."

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, the associate dean for the L.A.-based Simon Wiesenthal Center, warned democratic states that they could face persecution from the judicial activism of the world’s top war crimes court based in The Hague, Netherlands.
Gallant to meet Biden admin officials in first trip abroad since ICC warrant
Former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant is scheduled to fly to the United States on Dec. 1 for talks with the Biden administration, in his first foreign trip since the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for him and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Likud lawmaker will travel on a scheduled El Al flight, risking an emergency landing in one of the 123 countries that recognize the jurisdiction of the court in The Hague and are legally obligated to execute any arrest warrant it issues.

Gallant was slated to meet his American counterpart, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, early last month to discuss “ongoing Middle East security developments,” but Netanyahu postponed the trip at the last minute.

Netanyahu announced Gallant’s firing less than four weeks later, saying it was prompted by disagreements on how to conduct the war against Hamas, Hezbollah and other Iranian terrorist proxies in the region.

During the nixed Oct. 9 visit, Gallant was supposed to coordinate with senior U.S. officials, including National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.

U.S. President Joe Biden has denounced the ICC’s Nov. 21 decision to issue arrest warrants for the two Israeli leaders as “outrageous.”

“Let me be clear once again: Whatever the ICC might imply, there is no equivalence—none—between Israel and Hamas,” said Biden, adding, “We will always stand with Israel against threats to its security.”

The United States is not a signatory to the Rome Statute that established the ICC in 2002, and does not recognize its authority.

Israel also rejects the court’s jurisdiction, but in a legalistic sleight of hand, it has claimed jurisdiction by accepting “Palestine” as a signatory, even though no such state is recognized under international law.
Call Me Back: The ICC vs Netanyahu & Gallant - with Natasha Hausdorff
This past Thursday, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Israel’s former defense minister, Yoav Gallant. The warrants were issued on charges of attempting to orchestrate starvation as a method of warfare, and crimes against humanity, of “murder and persecution”, in the ICC's terms. A warrant was also issued for Hamas leader Mohammed Deif, who was killed in an airstrike in Gaza in July.

To help us understand the ICC; its role, jurisdiction and credibility; and the wide range of implications of these arrest warrants, our guest is Natasha Hausdorff.

Natasha is a British barrister and expert on international law, foreign affairs, and national security policy. She is the Charitable Trust Legal Director of UK Lawyers For Israel (UKLFI). Natasha regularly briefs government leaders and international organizations, and has spoken at parliaments across Europe and at the United Nations. She is a regular commentator on issues of international law, both generally and specifically as they apply to Israel.

Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
03:30 What are the charges raised against Netanyahu & Gallant?
06:30 History and role of the ICC
12:08 What should the defense strategy be?
19:51 Is Israel's judicial system vulnerable to attacks from the ICC?
25:53 Responses from international leaders, including Justin Trudeau
29:13 Implications for lower ranking soldiers and officials in Israel
33:57 Implications for other countries
42:45 Will there be backlash against the ICC?




IDF soldier, 21, killed in northern Gaza Strip
IDF Sgt. Tamer Osman, 21, from Kfar Yasif, a soldier in the Nachshon Battalion, Kfir Brigade, fell in battle in the northern Gaza Strip, the army reported on Tuesday.

His death brings to 806 the number of Israeli soldiers killed on all fronts since the start of the war.

Earlier Tuesday, a Hezbollah attack drone, launched from Lebanon, exploded in the Mount Hermon area of the Golan Heights without warning, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

The military stated that the incident was under investigation.

In a separate incident on Tuesday, a reservist non-commissioned officer from the 8163rd Battalion of the Combat Engineering Corps was severely wounded during combat in the central Gaza Strip.

The IDF also announced on Tuesday morning that a soldier had succumbed to wounds incurred on Oct. 7th, 2023, while fighting terrorists during the Hamas-led invasion of southern Israel.

The soldier was identified as Sgt. 1st Class Yona Betzalel Brief, 23, a combat medic with the Duvdevan commando unit, from Modi’in.

Also on Tuesday morning, a home in the evacuated border town of Kiryat Shmona suffered a direct hit by a Hezbollah rocket. No injuries were reported.

Hezbollah launched 10 rockets at the Western Galilee overnight Monday, wounding two people in Nahariya, one of them seriously.

The couple, a 70-year-old woman and an 80-year-old man whose apartment suffered a direct hit, was evacuated to the city’s Galilee Medical Center in serious and mild condition, respectively, according to Zaki Heller, spokesperson for Magen David Adom emergency medical service.


IDF forces reach Litani River as Cabinet set to vote on ceasefire
Israeli troops reached the Litani River on Tuesday, for the first time since the Israel Defense Forces’ withdrawal from Southern Lebanon on May 24, 2000, the IDF reported.

Soldiers from the 91st Division carried out intelligence-driven raids on Hezbollah targets, engaged in close-quarters combat with terrorists and uncovered and destroyed dozens of rocket launchers, thousands of rockets and missiles, as well as concealed weapons storage facilities, according to the military.

The raids near the Litani River involved forces from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, including reservists from the 769th Brigade, the Golani Reconnaissance Battalion and the Israeli Air Force’s Shaldag commando unit.

In the Wadi Saluki area of Southern Lebanon, the Commando Brigade Combat Team carried out a targeted raid on terrorist infrastructure. The troops uncovered hundreds of weapons, underground facilities and dozens of rocket launchers ready for immediate use.

Thirty Hezbollah terror targets struck in Southern Lebanon

Since Tuesday morning, the IAF has struck 30 Hezbollah targets in Southern Lebanon, the military announced in the afternoon. The strikes targeted weapons storage facilities, anti-tank missile depots and arms caches belonging to Hezbollah’s Aerial Defense unit in the Bint Jbeil area.

Storage facilities associated with the “Nasser” unit, responsible for many terror attacks against northern Israeli communities and IDF troops, were also targeted, as was the launcher used to attack the Western Galilee area on Monday, according to the military.


EP. 59. The State of Western Militaries Today. Col. Richard Kemp
In this episode, Colonel Richard Kemp, former British infantry commander and former head of the international terrorism team at the Joint Intelligence Committee in Britain, talks about the threats facing the West, the growing wokeism in our militaries, the threat of Iran, and the disastrous ICC arrest warrants on Israeli leaders.


Ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah draws close
Former Israeli ambassador to Australia Mark Sofer discusses the ceasefire negotiations between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

“This is the Middle East, and in the Middle East, nothing’s over until it’s over,” Mr Sofer said.

“Hopefully, something good will come out of it, but there is no trust in Israel for Hezbollah.”


‘Court of politics, not justice’: Tony Abbott slams ICC's ruling on Benjamin Netanyahu
Former prime minister Tony Abbott slams the International Criminal Court as a “court of politics” rather than a court of justice.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong says Australia ‘respects’ the ICC’s independence after the body issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“Any court that claims moral equivalence between an apocalyptic terror group, Hamas on the one hand, and liberal democratic Israel and its leaders on the other hand – it’s not a court of justice, it’s a court of politics,” Mr Abbott told Sky News host Peta Credlin.


Arrest warrant for the Israeli PM represents the ‘politicisation’ of the ICC
Former foreign minister Alexander Downer claims the ICC’s decision to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant “constitutes the politicisation” of the court.

“So, this decision by the court now to charge the Israeli Prime Minister and former defence minister constitutes the politicisation of the International Criminal Court,” Mr Downer told Sky News host Chris Kenny.

“It leads me to a rather sad conclusion which is the only courts we can rely on as Australians are our own courts.”


Pro-Palestinian Law Firm Files Formal Complaint Against Opposition Leader for ‘Normalising’ Hate
A legal firm that came after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese earlier this year with claims the Australian government was “complicit in genocide” in Gaza, has now launched a separate case specifically targeting Opposition Leader Peter Dutton.

Birchgrove Legal released a two-page statement on Nov. 25, talking about the case it lodged against Dutton with the Australian Human Rights Commission under the country’s Racial Discrimination Act.

The action, led by Jewish Australian arts professor Peter Slezak and Palestinian advocate Nasser Mashni, accuses Dutton of “dehumanising” Palestinians, Muslims and Jews.

In March, the same legal firm submitted a letter to the International Criminal Court accusing members of the federal parliament of supporting alleged war crimes in the Israel-Hamas war. Foreign Minister Penny Wong, Defence Minister Richard Marles, and Dutton were named in the letter, with Albanese telling reporters at the time the letter had no credibility.

The Claims Against Dutton In the letter penned specifically against Dutton on Nov. 25, Birchgrove Legal Principal Solicitor Moustafa Kheir, based in Sydney, said Dutton’s comments had “normalised anti-Palestinian hate.”

One claim made against the opposition leader is that he had misled Australians by suggesting the nation’s national security was at risk by allowing visas for 3,000 Palestinians to enter Australia.

The letter also objects to what it calls “far right” claims by Dutton that babies were beheaded during the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, and the assertion that pro-Palestinians were chanting “gas the Jews” on the steps of the Sydney Opera House shortly after attacks.

New South Wales Police later said the actual phrase was: “Where’s the Jews?” But the exact wording remains subject to debate.

The letter also claims Dutton supported the deportation of pro-Palestinian activists, and was critical of a new grassroots Muslim voting movement.

Professor Slezak said Dutton’s comments could fuel racial tensions.
'Domestic Terrorism' - AJA on 2GB with Luke Grant
AJA President Dr David Adler spoke to Luke Grant on 2GB.

Dr Adler called out the 'domestic terrorism' which saw homes and cars targeted in Sydney's Woollahra in an anti-Jewish attack.

Dr Adler had strong words for the Labor government which has allowed antisemitism to flourish unchecked in Australia.

Listen to how Luke describes Dr Adler at the end.


Citing safety issues, mayor of Amsterdam blocks rally against antisemitism at Dam Square
Femke Halsema, the mayor of Amsterdam, has banned a large-scale rally against antisemitism set for Thursday evening at Dam Square.

As a result, the organizers, including Christians for Israel (CVI), are considering legal action, the Dutch daily De Telegraaf reported.

A spokeswoman for the mayor said the decision was made for safety reasons.

“This Thursday is one of the busiest shopping evenings of the year. There is a good chance that there will be spontaneous dissenting voices,” the spokeswoman said. “The police do not have sufficient abilities at that location to guarantee the safety of participants in the demonstration and for the shopping public.”

Halsema told representatives of CVI and Jewish organizations, such as the Center for Information and Documentation Israel (CIDI), that she wanted to move the protest away from the city’s central square. “It is not about banning but about moving. This still has to be announced formally,” the spokeswoman for Halsema said.

Alternative locations mentioned include the Stoperaplein and the Museumplein. “We have three options,” says Sara van Oordt of CVI. “Initiate summary proceedings, cancel the demonstration altogether or choose a different location.”

CVI stated that it prefers not to move the site of the rally. “Previous demonstrations have always taken place on Dam Square,” Van Oordt said. “That square has a symbolic value, also because of the war memorial there. That is where we want to stand to show that we are against antisemitism. Not somewhere far-off.”
Zionist Christian center vandalized in Netherlands ahead of pro-Israel demonstration
The Christians For Israel (C4I) organization in the Netherlands claimed on Monday their center was subjected to vandalism, a hostile environment, and accusations of child murder and genocide by activists from three pro-Palestinian organizations.

Naming the organizations as Extinction Rebellion, Justice Now, and Christian Collective, the latter claiming to support Palestinians, C4I claimed activists spraypainted “supporting genocide,” “child murderers,” and “complicit in the events in Gaza” on the building’s exterior.

The vandalism allegedly occured during a protest scheduled at the same time that most C4I staff members arrived at work. The group claimed that many of its employees were caught off guard by the demonstration.

“The vandalism created a distressing and hostile environment for staff and disrupted the organization’s daily activities,” C4I claimed.

Police arrived at the scene 20 minutes after they were called but allegedly failed to disperse and secure the center for nearly three hours.

The organization stressed that the demonstration and vandalisms were just the latest incident in hostilities against pro-Israel Christians in the area.

C4I said the building was targeted last summer by, what appears to be, activists from the same groups.


Victoria strengthens vilification laws
Jewish leadership has praised new, more comprehensive anti-vilification laws unveiled on Tuesday but will seek clarification from the Victorian government on whether a built-in “political expression” defence could be counter-productive.

In the presence of community and faith leaders, Premier Jacinta Allan and Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes announced changes to the anti-vilification and social cohesion legislation.

“It will keep us safe from vilification and hate in public, on our streets, in our workplaces, in our parks and the corridors of universities,” Allan stated.

The bills expanding the vilification law were introduced in the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday and will supplement existing protections under Victoria’s Racial and Religious Tolerance Act.

They include two new criminal offences against public, private and online vilification, covering incitement of hatred, serious contempt, revulsion or severe ridicule against a person or group, or threatening physical harm or property damage.

Jewish Community Council of Victoria (JCCV) CEO Naomi Levin said, “Our current weak laws have meant that for far too long, Victorians have been able to get away with vilifying and assaulting Jews and people from other minority groups.

“We are pleased that the Victorian government has taken steps to strengthen both the civil and criminal vilification laws. We urge the Parliament to speedily debate and implement these essential reforms. It would be regrettable if implementation were to drag out into the second half of 2025.”

But on the “political expression” defence, Levin said the JCCV “looks forward to further engaging with the Victorian government to ensure this defence does not become a catch-all measure that renders these new laws unworkable”.
Avi Yemini TROLLS hate mob who fail to intimidate Jewish community
Melbourne’s Jewish community stood firm outside a Caulfield synagogue after a small group of anti-Israel protesters descended on the predominantly Jewish suburb to stage their demonstration.

Promoting themselves as “Jewish-led,” the protesters failed to show any evidence of Jewish support, leading to bizarre exchanges. The protesters, mostly masked-up, despite no threat of Covid-19, and dressed in keffiyehs, gathered under the guise of advocating for Palestinian rights but disrespectfully directed their protests toward a Jewish place of worship.

I confronted several demonstrators, questioning the choice of location and their motives and the results were predictably pathetic.

“What would go through someone’s head to think it’s a good idea to come to the heart of the Jewish community to protest Israel outside a synagogue?” I asked, pointing out the provocative nature of their actions.

One protester made the bizarre claim that she had experienced antisemitism because people mistook her for being Jewish.

“I’ve been called a Jew and had someone threaten me because they thought I was Jewish,” she said. I responded, “You’re claiming antisemitism not because you’re Jewish, but because someone mistakenly thought you were? Are you listening to yourself?”

Throughout the evening, the lack of knowledge among the protesters became evident. Many were unable to answer basic questions about the conflict or even identify Palestinian leaders. “Free, free Palestine,” they chanted repeatedly, but when pressed on what they knew about Palestinian history, geography, or governance, they were silent.

As tensions rose, Victoria Police intervened to maintain order and direct protesters away from the synagogue. Meanwhile, members of the Jewish community and their allies rallied in unity, many expressing frustration and disbelief at the protest’s location.






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